Lawsuit alleges teacher made gay slurs at student, leading to suicide attempt

A lawsuit has been filed against the Charleston County School District alleging a West Ashley High School math teacher repeatedly referred to a student as gay in front of his classmates, resulting in the student's attempted suicide.

According to the lawsuit, a teacher at the school began to bully a student in early April of this year. It goes on to say the student "suffered severe emotional and psychological damage" as a result of the bullying, withdrew from school, and eventually attempted to commit suicide by hanging.

The lawsuit states the teacher called his student "gay", "gay boy", and other names while the student was in front of his peers, and encouraged the victim's classmates to join in on the name-calling.

The teacher also repeatedly told the victim's classmates that the student was in a homosexual relationship with another male classmate, and that they were "boyfriend and girlfriend", the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, filed on August 30, claims the school district was grossly negligent in failing to properly supervise the teacher, and failing to take steps which would have prevented, discovered, and stopped the teacher's behavior.

According to CCSD spokesperson Jason Sakran, the teacher is still employed by the school district.

The victim's family is suing the school district for past, present and future damages associated with pain and suffering, mental anguish, the alteration of lifestyle, and past and future medical bills.

The victim is not identified in the lawsuit because he is a minor, and to "preserve privacy in this sensitive and highly person matter."

The Charleston County School District released the following statement:

"We cannot provide comment at this time, as this is pending litigation."